Smoking gun?

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Even if you give up smoking you may not live as long as a non-smoker. New research suggests that you are destined to die younger anyway

THE STATISTICS are clear. Give up smoking and you live longer. Even in the 17th century, Kerckring, the Dutch anatomist, suspected tobacco’s malign effect after dissecting a smoker’s body: “The tongue is black and gives off an odour of poison; the trachea is coated with soot . . . the corpse gives the impression that someone lit a fire among the organs.”

The anti-smoking group ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) tells visitors to its website that “one in two long-term smokers dies early and loses about 16 years of life”. The Bupa website contains yet starker figures: “On average those killed by